


Never Mind About the Shape I'm In

by Binary_Sunset



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Credence Barebone Gets a Hug, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Gaslighting, Kidnapping, M/M, Manipulative Gellert Grindelwald, kink meme de-anon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 02:51:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10584888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Binary_Sunset/pseuds/Binary_Sunset
Summary: Percival Graves is captured by Gellert Grindelwald. After being bound and immobilised with magic, he discovers that Grindelwald is impossibly more terrible than he originally thought.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this prompt](https://fantasticbeasts-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/1184.html?thread=2210208#cmt2210208m) for the Fantastic Beasts kink meme.
> 
> _Gindelwald finds Credence (obscurus? untrained wizard?) before anyone else and decides he'll be a useful tool that can be molded and shaped. He abuses Credence but keeps him loyal through any combination of misinformation, emotional manipulation, blackmail and threats._  
>  _Grindelwald imprisons Graves (or other wizard of choice) for whatever reason (to impersonate him and hunting for the Obscurus if it's not Credence?) and Credence and Graves meet. Graves figures he can use Credence to escape. Now if he can just remember to view the hurting and abused young man, with the surprising streak of kindness, as a tool to be used rather than feeling protective toward him._  
>  _Credence has realized that Grindelwald and his followers are VERY bad people and feels he has to make amends no matter the cost to himself. Freeing the intimidating prisoner and helping him to safety seems a good place to start. Credence is sure that he'll be even more hated by the 'Good' wizards than with Grindelwald but he's determined to do the right thing anyway._  
>  _In the end he finds the admiration and love that he deserves. Love a m/m pairing for this but totally cool with a family of choice adoption type thing. Give Credence some love and people determined to show him he's worthy of good things._
> 
> I stole the title from [S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4xq9_9QKJY) by My Chemical Romance because apparently it's 2010 and I am 12 years old.

It wasn’t the first time Percival Graves had woken up tied up in a stranger’s home. Though, the circumstances this time around were a bit… less than favourable, to say the least.

Granted, he wasn’t _expecting_ Gellert Grindelwald to come bursting into his apartment at an ungodly hour, but that was no excuse for how downright embarrassing his defeat had been. He’d like to pretend it was a thrilling battle and he gave it his all (and he’d certainly spin the tale that way when he got out of this… if he got out of this), but a half-asleep Auror is no match for an incredibly powerful Dark Wizard who’d also managed to break all the wards around his apartment.

Groaning, Graves attempted to test out what he could move. After a few attempts to wriggle his way out of his bonds, the action proved to be moot. Why on _Earth_ Grindelwald decided Graves needed both a full body bind _and_ several yards of rope to restrain him was beyond Graves’ understanding. It was, however, proving to be quite effective. Whether it was the spell or the loss of circulation, he was unable to feel pretty much all of his limbs.

But he was still able to use the rest of his senses, thankfully, as he heard a muffled, slightly accented voice through the door.

 _Grindelwald_.

“–the man I told you about, Credence. He’s a skilled manipulator. He _will_ lie to you, just to get his freedom. Don’t you dare give it to him. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, sir.”

The second voice was quieter and a bit more meek. This person, who must be Credence, just... sounded younger than Gellert. Something about his tone set Graves’ nerves on end. It was the same tone he’d heard from schoolboys after they were caned by their headmasters.

No, this was just another one of Grindelwald’s fanatics. Best to just… figure out some way to escape all this. He didn’t have time to feel sorry for someone who wanted to expose wizardkind to the the rest of the world.

The door burst open, another one of Gellert’s dramatics no doubt, and Grindelwald stepped into the small, basement room where he’d imprisoned Percival Graves. He brought Graves to face him with a flick of his wand.

“Nice to see you’re awake again, Percy. I was beginning to think you wouldn’t make it, considering you duel like a first-year Hogwarts student.”

If it weren’t for the bind, Graves would have punched Grindelwald square in the jaw.

Gellert turned to someone Graves couldn’t see from this angle. Credence, presumably. “Out like a bitch, this one. I wonder would MACUSA would say if they heard all I had to do to best the President’s right hand man was show up a little past his bedtime.” He turned his attention back to Graves. “You should be very thankful you’re pretty, by the way. If your face wasn’t worth wearing, you’d be dead by now.”

His face wasn’t worth… wearing? What the Hell?

Before Graves could wonder any more than that, he was dropped back onto the concrete ground, landing just so he could look up and get a decent view of Grindelwald.

With a quick wave of his wand, his entire body transformed. One moment, Gellert Grindelwald was smirking at him, the next, it was his own face, twisted into a cruel expression.

It was like looking in some sort of cursed mirror.

“One last thing.” Grindelwald flipped Graves over with his foot, before slipping a hand beneath the bonds to grab at his pocket. He slowly pulled out Graves’ wand as if relishing the moment.

It was only now that Graves could get a proper look at the man Gellert was with. He was standing silently in the corner of the room, keeping his head down and his shoulders hunched as if he was expecting to be scolded at any moment. Graves felt a pang of pity for the boy (who couldn’t have been older than twenty, twenty-five if he really stretched it) before firmly reminding himself that he was probably just as crazed as his companion.

Gellert’s voice brought Graves’ attention back to his captor. “Won’t this be great? I’m going to take down MACUSA and _you’re_ going to take all the blame for it.” He looked towards the quiet boy in the corner. “I wonder, Credence, what it must be like, knowing that you’ll go down in history as the man who toppled his own government.”

Hearing those words come out of Graves’ mouth, with his own voice, made his skin crawl.

The young man, who was definitely named Credence, just looked up passively, avoiding eye contact with Gellert.

“I don’t know, sir.”

The response was mumbled, almost robotic.

Graves had the aching suspicion that Grindelwald had done something terrible to that poor boy.

Seeing that Credence wasn’t playing along with the taunting, Grindelwald focused his attention back onto Graves. “Well, I’m about to become _very_ acquainted with your personal life, Percy, so if there’s anything you’d like me to know, feel free to say it.”

That was, Graves decided, the worst thing about dealing with Grindelwald. The way he _never shut up_ . It was one thing to be one of the most notorious wizards on the planet, but he also had to be so goddamn _smug_ about it. And that stupid nickname just made it even worse. Percival Graves hadn’t been “Percy” since he’d entered double digits.

He felt the anger coil in his gut. “You stay the _fuck_ out of my life, you hear me!?”

“Well, I’m afraid it’s far too late for that.” Grindelwald calmly held out his own wand, which Credence took, almost like he’d been trained to do so. “I’ll try and be good, at least for now. There’s no guarantee there won’t be a few… casualties, of course.” He turned to the boy. “Come on Credence, I think Percy, here, would prefer to be left to his own devices.”

The young man nodded silently and followed Gellert out of the room.

Graves groaned and rested his head on the cold, concrete floor. He had to escape somehow. And Credence might just be the key to his success.

The idea of manipulating the poor boy left a bad taste in Graves’ mouth, but it would have to be the price to pay for the greater good. And he’d have to figure out something quick, before Gridelwald had the chance to do any lasting damage.

 

•••

 

His first opportunity to gather information came much sooner than Graves was expecting.

After what felt like hours, Graves head another set of footsteps approach his room. He tensed (or, at least, would have if he could feel his limbs), before Credence came into view.

He knelt down beside Graves, his expression curious and laced with fear. The young man raised a hand to wave at him and Percival’s heart nearly stopped.

On his right middle finger, plain as day, there was a signet ring with the symbol of the Deathly Hallows carved into it.

He’d known, of course, that Credence was one of Gellert’s followers but seeing it after spending so long in Europe fighting people who bore that same mark was just chilling.

“Why are you here?” he growled, trying to hide his nerves.

Credence just crouched and leaned in closer. “I’ve… never met another wizard before, other than Gellert.”

How was that even possible? There was no way Grindelwald would be caught dead with a muggle, and even just that one display of magic would be enough to set MACUSA in damage control mode. Even wizards from no-maj families tended to find the wizarding community by the time they were old enough to attend Ilvermorny.

“He’s not a very good example of wizardkind, trust me. We’re not all like that.”

Credence cocked his head. “What do you mean? I know he isn’t perfect, but it’s better than what I’d be going back to.”

He’d be going back to something… worse than Grindelwald? Either he was exaggerating or… the thought of that sent shivers down Graves’ spine.

Percy took a deep breath and reminded himself to _focus, for Christ’s sake_.

“Maybe he’s been kind to you, but I’ve fought against his lot. I know what they’re capable of and he’s a very dangerous man--”

“He told me you’d say that.”

Graves threw his head back and groaned. “Look, you _must_ have seen it for yourself. He’s unstable. He has a temper. He’s _ver_ y powerful. And if he takes my job, he could hurt the people I work with. _Good_ people who just want to keep the world safe from the likes of him.”

Credence crossed his arms. “I didn’t come here to argue about whether or not Gellert is a good man.”

 _Gellert_. Good god, he had the kid wrapped around his finger.

Still, best to play along, gather what information he could.

“Why did you come here, then? It’s certainly not to torture me, or else you would have done that already.” That, and Credence really didn’t seem the type to enjoy causing harm to others. Which, again, rose some questions about what he was doing with Grindelwald.

“It’s like I said, you’re the only other wizard I’ve met. I want to talk to you.”

He wanted to mumble _Well, you’re doing it right now_ , but Graves also wanted to stay on Credence’s good side. “What do you want to know?”

“Who are you?” He said this so sweetly and quietly that Graves had to keep reminding himself that _helping young men was not the priority right now_.

He took a breath. “My name is Percival Graves. I’m thirty-five years old, and I’m the Director of Magical Security at MACUSA.”

“I… don’t know what most of those things are.”

How had he never heard of MACUSA? It just raised more red flags in Graves’ mind.

“MACUSA is the governing body in charge of all the witches and wizards in the United States. It’s lead by a president who’s elected every five years. As the Director of Magical security, I’m her right hand man and I’m in charge of all the Aurors in the country.” When Credence just stared at him blankly Graves clarified. “Aurors are like wizard police. We track down bad people doing bad things and bring them to justice.”

“People like Gellert,” Credence concluded.

Graves raised an eyebrow. “So you know he’s awful.”

“I’m working with him. What makes you think I’m any better?”

Graves looked him over. Why did he feel pity for this man and not Grindelwald? After a few moments’ thought, he finally spoke up. “You don’t like it. What he does. I can tell. You’re always off to the side, and you never join in on the teasing. You’re not like him, Credence.”

“But I’m still working with him! They’ll still punish me!”

“I wouldn’t…” Graves muttered.

The next thing he heard was Credence storming out of the room.

 

•••

 

Graves couldn't tell how long it was before he saw either of his captors again. There was no window in the basement cell where he was being kept, and Grindelwald seemed intent on starving him. However, his lack of visits seemed to indicate that he was busy ruining Graves’ reputation.

 

He slept when he felt tired and struggled to stay awake when he didn't. When he was awake, he'd try to keep his mind occupied: making up riddles, revisiting happy memories from school, trying to remember the plot to a novel he’d read a number of years ago. Grindelwald may be trying to break him, but Graves had to keep his mind and form an escape plan.

He'd lost track of how many times he'd fallen asleep with no way to mark the cycles, but it had to be upwards of five by the time he woke up to quiet sobbing.

He'd hardly even noticed it at first, thinking it was a bird or something that had found its way into the basement, but no. It was a human sound, coming from a corner of the room Graves couldn't see. There was also a very concerning smell of blood in the still air.

He quietly prayed that it wasn't one of his coworkers that had figured out Grindelwald’s deception before calling out “Hello?”

The sobbing stilled before a quiet response “I… I didn't think you’d be awake before he came back.”

Credence. Why was he here? And why was he crying? “Could you come over here? I… can't really see you. Are you hurt?”

“I'm fine,” he muttered, his voice more quiet and meek than it usually was.

“No you're not. I can smell that you're bleeding. I can help.”

Credence crouched down and entered Graves’ field of view and his heart nearly stopped.

The young man’s face was covered in blood. His nose was twisted beyond belief and there were a few dark bruises on his chin and over his eye. The rest of his body was obscured from Graves, but he wasn’t sure how well it was faring.

Graves just stared at him, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. If he’d been able to move, he would have healed the man’s injuries in a heartbeat.

“...Credence…” he muttered, barely audible. “Who did this to you?”

“I was supposed to rough you up while he was gone. He came back and saw you were okay and…” Credence brushed against his heavily contorted nose. Fresh drops of blood pooled onto the back of his hand. “He wasn’t happy about that.”

Graves’ immediate response was to try and reach his hand out to heal him. When that didn’t work, he looked Credence in the eyes. “I want to help you, but I can’t heal you with the spell Grindelwald put on me. If you can just undo the bind, I can probably…”

Credence wiped his nose on his sleeve, smearing the fresh blood across his face. “Why would you do that?"

“You did all this to protect me. Returning the favour is the least I can do.”

The young man locked eyes with him and pulled a wand from his jacket pocket and flicked it.

It was as if Graves’ limbs were turning from stone to flesh. His movements were small at first: wiggling his fingers, then transitioning to larger things. Soon, he was able to sit up (albeit a bit awkwardly, as the ropes still limited his movement) and slip one of his hands out of the ropes. He looked at Credence. “Did he only hurt your face?”

The young wizard nodded. “Yes, he.. Usually doesn’t hit me anywhere else.”

So this was a recurring thing. Why on _Earth_ did Credence stay here?

Graves laid a hand on Credence’s face. “Stay still, this might sting a bit.” He thought _Episkey_ and watched as the man’s bruises faded, transitioning from an angry red to purple, green, and yellow, until finally they were completely gone. Credence’s nose righted itself. The bleeding slowed and then stopped altogether before the blood evaporated away. In a matter of seconds, his face was intact.

The young man’s hands flew up to his nose, as if to check that it was still there. He looked down, seeing that his hand hadn’t come back bloody. “Thank you. Thank you so much, I don’t--”

Credence’s words were cut short by the sound of footsteps heading down the basement stairs. His entire body tensed.

“It’s him, isn’t it?” Graves muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.

Credence nodded. “Put your hand back through the ropes and pretend you’re asleep.”

Not having time to question the plan, Graves did as Credence asked. As he was wondering how the man would explain his suddenly healed face, the door burst open.

Graves had his back to the entrance, but he didn’t have to look to know Grindelwald was there.

“Credence, have you learned your lesson about disobeying me?” his voice (Graves’ voice) was sickly sweet as he walked towards Credence, his footsteps echoing through the basement cell. There was a pause before he spoke again. “What have you done?”

“I… I’m sorry sir. I.. don’t know what happened. One moment I was bleeding and the next my face healed itself.”

“Did he help?” This was punctuated by a kick to Percival’s back. It took just about every shred of self-control Graves had not to yelp.

“No, he’s… been asleep. I’ve been messing with his schedule like you said.” He heard Credence’s breath hitch. “You know how erratic my magic is. I… think it just wanted to help--”

“Well, you’ll never learn your lesson like that, will you?” The condescending tone in Graves’ own voice made him sick to his stomach.

“No, sir.”

“If you ever pull something like that again, you’ll be punished, do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now come on, I’ve put breakfast out for us.”

As soon as Graves heard both sets of footsteps scale the stairs, he let out an agitated snort.

Fuck using Credence. Every exchange between him and Grindelwald made Graves want to destroy the dark wizard more and more, especially now that he was hearing those words come out of his own mouth.

He was escaping this Godforsaken cell, and he was taking Credence with him.

 

•••

 

It felt like only a few hours before Credence returned, this time bringing a tray of food with him.

It smelled great and made Graves’ stomach rumble as he realised how long it had been since anyone had fed him.

“He went back into the city,” Credence explained, stirring the soup. “You could leave now, if you wanted to.”

Graves shook his head. “Not without you. I'm not leaving you here.”

“I can’t… I can’t ask you to do that,” Credence muttered.

“You're not. I _want_ to get you out of here,” Graves explained. “You've helped me three times now, maybe more that I don't even know about. I can’t just leave you with someone like that. It wouldn’t be right.”

Credence pulled his knees up to his chest and muttered something inaudible into them, before starting to sob.

Graves waved his free hand over his bonds. The ropes began to loosen before falling away completely. He took a few steps towards Credence. “What did you say?” he asked gently. He'd never been the best at comforting people, but there was no Goldstein around to flaunt that particular talent, so he would have to do.

“I deserve it!” Credence repeated, looking up at Graves now. “I didn't even know I had magic until I met Gellert, and I can't control it. And even when I can… I’ve never done anything good. I can't heal like you can or… or do anything other than destroy.” He wiped his eyes with one of his sleeves. “The only good thing I've ever done is free you, but I'm the one who put that bind on you in the first place!”

Graves had never known a wizard dark enough to only perform destructive spells. In untrained wizards magic could be unpredictable, but never _evil_. “Credence, did Gellert… ever teach you any spells?”

The young wizard blinked. “No… it was all just… acting on its own.”

Graves chuckled. “Credence, you're still untrained. Of course your magic is going to lash out when you're afraid or upset. You've never learned how to control it.” He put a hand on the man’s shoulder. “No one is born bad. Even Grindelwald had a choice.”

Credence just stared at him, as if unable to even form words.

“Your actions speak louder than your magic. You're a good man, Credence, I've known since the moment I saw you. You don't deserve to live like this and if anyone claims otherwise, you let me deal with it.”

Credence slumped forward, wrapping his arms around Graves’ shoulders.

“Can I bring you back to MACUSA with me? They're probably going to arrest Grindelwald and I don't want to leave you here alone.” Graves explained.

He felt Credence nod against his shoulder.

“You can live with me for a while if you need to. I have a big apartment, I don't mind.”

“Thank you,” he muttered, his voice barely more than a whisper.

“It's the least I could do after all you've done to help me.” Graves pulled Credence closer. “Alright, I'm going to apparate us back to my office. It might feel a bit weird. Are you ready?”

Credence made a soft noise that Graves took as a “yes”. He held the younger man closer to him and focused as hard as he could on his office.

Suddenly, he felt his body twist and morph, the feeling familiar enough until he felt a horrible, sharp pain in his left shoulder.

Once he and Credence had reformed in his office, Graves let Credence go.

The young man looked mortified. “M-Mister Graves, your arm!”

Percival looked over at his arm, momentarily thankful that it was even there at all. He had no idea where the house was, and he was just thankful it hadn't been worse. Instead, there was a massive, spiral shaped chunk taken out of his shoulder.

He put a hand on Credence’s shoulder. “It's fine, this happens sometimes. I'll be alright.” He looked over his shoulder, checking for Grindelwald. When he realised that he and Credence were the only two in the room, he looked back towards the other man. “Look, I'm going to go get some help. You stay here for now and I'll come back for you, alright?”

Credence nodded. “Thank you.”

Graves smiled at him. His arm hurt like a bitch, but he didn't want Credence to think he’d caused him any pain. “Don't worry about it. My job is to help people.”

He opened the door and shut it softly behind him before tearing down the hall looking for someone, anyone, who could help him.

After turning two corners, he’d nearly plowed into Auror Goldstein.

He had never been so thankful to see one of his coworkers in his entire life.

He gripped her shoulder with his good arm. “Oh my god, Tina! You have no idea how good it is to see you!"

“Not that I'm not…” Tina took Graves’ hand off of her like it was covered in slime. “...uh, _thrilled_ by your enthusiasm, Director, didn't you just finish firing me a minute ago? And why do you look like you just crawled out of a hole?”

It was then that Graves realised exactly what he looked like. He was still wearing his pyjamas from the night he was kidnapped, his face was covered in what must have been at least five days worth of unshaven stubble, and his splinch was still dripping blood.

“Look, I was kidnapped by Gellert Grindelwald. He transfigured himself into me and left me tied up in a basement at some old house. It might’ve been upstate--”

“You apparated from _upstate_!? Are you crazy!? You should be thankful you didn't lose your whole arm!”

“That's not important right now! He had this… psychological hold on a young, untrained wizard who helped rescue me, and now he's planning to destroy MACUSA from the inside! You have to help me get my wand back from him!”

“I… knew something wasn't right with him.” Tina nodded. “I’ll help you.”

“Bring me to him.”

Tina grabbed Graves’ good arm and dragged him down a nearby hallway and into a boardroom.

The imposter Graves was in the middle of giving a speech when Tina rushed in and disarmed him with an _expelliarmus_.

President Picquery stood up. “Miss Goldstein, what are you doing!?”

“Madame President, that isn't Percival Graves!”

Percival snuck around Tina as she cast _revelio_ , transforming the false Graves back into Gellert Grindelwald.

In the chaos, Graves was able to dive for his wand. He got back on his feet and flicked his wand at the imposter. “ _Incarcerous_!”

Ropes flew from his wand and wrapped around Grindelwald’s body.

The man laughed darkly. “Good show, Percy, good show. Look at you, getting to be the hero even after--”

Graves punched him in the nose. “Shut up! Just, shut up! Nobody cares, Gellert!”

President Picquery stood up, as a small group of Aurors went to put Grindelwald into custody. “Director Graves, what's happened here?”

He explained everything: how Gellert got the jump on him, the hold he had on Credence and how he’d helped Graves escape.

When he was done, Picquery just nodded solemnly. “I'm just glad we were able to stop him before he did any irreversible damage.”

 

•••

 

As the rest of MACUSA set out on cleaning up Grindelwald’s messes, Graves was sent home with a bandaged arm and ordered to take a week’s rest.

Ordinarily, he’d complain, but there were other things he had to attend to.

His house was a wreck. Grindelwald had torn through the whole thing like a man possessed. Books and clothes were strewn about the floor and a myriad of files were spread on every flat surface of the apartment.

Graves sighed. “My work is never over, is it?” He gently nudged Credence. “Come on, I'll teach you some spells, and you can help me out.”

Credence fingered his wand nervously. “I… I'm not sure how helpful I'd be…”

Graves smiled. “We’ve got a whole week. I wouldn't worry about it.”

He saw Credence smile for the first time and take Grindelwald's ring off his finger. He walked up towards Graves and wrapped his arms around the other man’s shoulders. “Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have a [tumblr](https://www.binary-suunset.tumblr.com) that's probably 90% Star Wars, but I post some Fantastic Beasts content when it graces my dash.  
> EDIT: This bitch takes [ commissions](https://binary-suunset.tumblr.com/post/160970900544/hey-everyone-now-that-i-am-officially-no-longer).


End file.
